


Birthday Bending

by TheSassyWombat



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bending (Avatar), Birthday, Cooking, F/M, Family, Married Life, Parenthood, Post-Coital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:49:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24376792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSassyWombat/pseuds/TheSassyWombat
Summary: Katara and Aang oversleep and rush to prepare Bumi's birthday treat.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62





	Birthday Bending

Katara stretched her legs sleepily and cracked an eye to take in the peaceful face of her husband in bed next to her. She smiled and felt more relaxed than she had in ages. It was hard to find time for anything when you had two children, one a toddler, and a world to set to rights. Despite the ongoing lack of sleep, they had been talking about having a third child for a while. Katara liked having babies around, and they both were hoping for an airbender. There just never seemed to be any time for sleep, let alone sex anymore. But Sokka had volunteered to take the kids to the zoo to celebrate Bumi’s sixth birthday, and they had the house to themselves and a rare day off. One thing had led to another, and she had deeply enjoyed their afternoon delight.

She thought amusedly about Sokka out with the kids, and hoped that they were giving him a hard time. At the thought of the birthday outing, she sat straight up in bed in shock. A look out the window showed it was late afternoon, and they kids would be back within an hour or two. She and Aang were supposed to be getting the house set up for friends, family, and a small hoard of six year olds to descend for a birthday dinner. The tired parents had way overslept.

“Aang!” she yelled, shaking him, “wake up.”

Instead he moved closer, tucking his face against her hip and draping his arm across her lap. “Just five more minutes, sweetie,” he mumbled.

“Aang, the birthday dinner! We aren’t ready!”

Aang blinked sleepily and then his eye sharpened in recognition. He sat up too, climbing out of bed and starting to look for their clothes. “Right, well Sokka’s always late. We’ll pull something together in time.”

Katara also clambered out of her bed and wetted a cloth with the pitcher of water nearby. As she quickly wiped her face and then thighs, she snorted at her husband. “I think you are forgetting a tiny detail,” she said. “Bumi’s special birthday treat…”

Aang had been groping under the bed for his pants, which had somehow disappeared, when he straightened suddenly and banged his head on the wood frame. He howled briefly before scowling down at the offending furniture. “I told you that we should have made him egg custard tarts. Everyone loves egg custard tarts!”

“You love egg custard tarts,” Katara said rhyly. “I think you forgot whose birthday it is again.”

“Why don’t children respect their elders and egg custard tarts, anymore?” Aang asked from inside his shirt.

Katara cackled and rushed towards the kitchen. “You forget I knew you as a kid,” she called back over her shoulder.

...

Aang and Katara stared down at the cream and powdered sugar in front of them. Bumi had been raving about the topped frozen cream he had had at friends house for the past two month and had insisted on it for his birthday. The frozen cream had taken only a minute for Katara. After all, bending milk and water were practically the same. However, Bumi had insisted that the light topping had been his favorite part.

Neither Aang nor Katara had ever had it before. Now that the Four Nations were united again, communities had started blending, and new, delicious foods were one of the unexpected benefits. Katara had gotten the recipe from the friend’s mother, but had been reassured that it wasn’t worth the effort of endless beating unless one had a cook to do it for your children instead. The friend’s mother, and Earth Kingdom nobility, had offered to lend her cook for the birthday party, but Katara had declined, still not entirely comfortable with the high society that had come with Aang’s fame as Avatar and her own fame from helping him save the world. She was determined to do all the preparations herself for Bumi’s birthday, but now they only had about thirty minutes left before the children arrived home.

“Ok, Avatar,” she said, rounding on her husband, “we are premier Benders. We can do this. Show me what you got.”

Aang bounced lightly on his feet and shook out his shoulders. “Ok, you keep it cool and I’ll add the air.”

Katara nodded seriously. Both parents focused sharply on the task. Though being parents was the most amazing part of their lives, they frequently were pulled away more than they would like for the pesky business of rebuilding society. They were determined that birthdays and holidays would be only about the children.

Katara raised her hands and moved them smoothly, as the cream streamed out of the bottle and swirled in a globe before her. Aang swirled his hand and the sugar flew up to join the cream.

Aang grinned. “See, Katara, we rock as parents and chefs. We’ll get this done in no time!” He emphasized his words with a sudden gust of wind that sent the milk shooting wildly toward the floor and walls.

“Aang!” Katara chastised, as she countered by a sudden jolt of control. Suddenly, the milk froze and shot back in jagged icicles towards Aang.

Aang rose up and out of the way on a ball of air, letting out half a laugh of amusement before he caught his wife’s face. Quickly he composed himself. “Sorry, sweetie,” he apologized, hanging his head, a look based on a long history of trying to keep his wife happy with him.

“Great, we can give them cream ice shards for dessert,” Katara exclaimed, giving the offending ingredients a hard look. “Parents of the year, here we come!”

“We’ll get it this time,” Aang said with undying enthusiasm. “And this time I’ll just do whatever you tell me.”

“Well, thank the Spirits, a miracle has occurred,” Katara said, without heat.

Trying again, Katara lifted the second half of cream and Aang carefully and slowly fed in the air and sugar. After five minutes of concentration, they still had very chilly, sweetened cream.

“This isn’t working,” Katara said, glancing at the rapidly setting sun. “Give it another burst, I’m ready this time.”

Aang nodded and focused. The cream swirled faster and faster into a pure blur in front of them. Katara kept it steady, but held back on the cold so there wasn’t another icicle incident. Suddenly, she frowned again. She felt her control on the cream starting to slip, which was insane considering she was one of the worlds’ best water benders. “Aang,” she started slowly, and then stopped abruptly as the ball slipped from her control, fell to floor, and exploded butter across both of them and the kitchen. She sighed, realizing that Aang had been so enthusiastic he had transformed the cream from liquid and to a solid.

She and Aang stared around the room. Butter had rained in pea sized globblets on their pants and the rest of the room. “Ok,” Katara said, slipping into her calm place she had used to survive countless crises before now. “First was too much me, this was too much you. Third time we’ll be perfect.” Turning around, the sight of the empty cream jar froze them both with dread. Now they only had fifteen minutes before the children were due to return.

Aang jumped into the air and landed crouched on a spinning ball of air. “Don’t worry, I can be back in five minutes.” He rocketed from their home and went off weaving madly through the traffic of Republica City. It took him more like ten to return with another bottle of cream. He exploded into the kitchen, overflowing with excited energy and determination.

“Ok, Katara, I’ve said it before, but I feel good about this time! Let’s get cooking!” Sugar shot wildly into the air to puff and rain down on them.

Katara froze, and Aang looked at her apprehensively. Suddenly, she started laughing so hard she bent over and tears leaked from her eyes. Aang relaxed and laughed too. Somehow, they ended up with their arms around each other, tucked in close, and they shook gleefully. Eventually, they stopped and relaxed into each other. Katara reached up and gave Aang a quick, loving kiss.

“You’re right,” she agreed. Covered in butter and sugar, a chaotic blend of dignitaries, small children, and mischievous friends about to descend, and the very real possibility of Bumi’s first six-year old tantrum looming, all she felt was deep love and connection for this man. “We can do this. A balance of you and me, just like Bumi and Kya, just like this afternoon,” she added playfully.

“I like the sound of that,” Aang said, returning the kiss. This time, the ingredients seemed to play with each other. The air, cream, and sugar swirled quickly together and transformed into a delectable cloud that gently drifted down into a bowl on the counter. They grinned at each other again and stood in their own, private moment of joy.

The sound of the door banging open and yelling children quickly ended the privacy, but never the joy. Bumi and Kya stampeded gleefully into the kitchen only to stop dead at the sight in front of them. Both their parents were messy and windswept, with butter and ice slowly melting everywhere. Aang and Katara proudly held the bowl of whipped cream. Bumi dipped a finger in and tasted it. His face lit up, right along with his parents’ hearts.

“Mama, can I have a dumpling now? I’m hungry,” Kya said, with the razor focus of a toddler who knows what she wants.

Aang and Katara froze again. At the sound of Sokka greeting the first guests, they realized they hadn’t prepared any of the rest of the meal.

... 

That is how the Avatar served his elegant guests series of snacks and dessert for dinner. The children, and Sokka, agreed resoundingly it was the best birthday party ever. If one Earth Kingdom Noble woman was overheard murmuring about how unconventional this Avatar was, well nobody really minded. Bumi’s birthday was a success, and the children really were all that mattered.


End file.
